Hi everyone and welcome to another week of sunshine in the south.
Well, all eyes have certainly been our Elite track cyclists and their campaign at the World Cup in Los Angeles over recent days and what a campaign it was too!
The Kiwis finished by being awarded the World Cup Round Winner as the top team following their medal haul at the event.
Young Tom Sexton, at just 18 years, had an epic time being rewarded with two bronze medals in the Scratch and the Madison with Campbell Stewart.
The Sprint trio of Sam Webster, Ethan Mitchell and Eddie Dawkins had a blinding few rides working their way through the qualifiers to edge out Germany for gold in the final ride.
Meanwhile, Natasha Hansen scored a first-ever World Cup sprint medal for a Kiwi female when she secured a bronze on day two. Those were just the results involving our Southland reps, so check out the full results by clicking here
Huge congratulations Eddie, Tom and Tarsh from all your Southland supporters and a massive well done to team New Zealand on your overall results.
And it’s been all about results lately so here’s some more while we’re at it.
NZ Road Team
Huge congrats to Sam Miller who has been selected to race at the Oceania Road Champs in Canberra next week with the New Zealand Under 19 Road Team. Race hard Sam and all the very best congratulations on another fantastic achievement.
Calder Stewart Cycling Series
The first race of the series was held in Canterbury last weekend and a huge congrats to Hamish Keast who finished up with the U19 win with his Transport Engineering Velo South team.. Also to Corbin Strong who finished just two places behind Hamish and sits in second place in the U19s. Meanwhile, Luke Macpherson is back on the bike for the series and finished a respectable eighth. Keep up the great work on the road everyone taking part in this year’s series!
Alex to St Bathans
Then there’s young Josh Miller who had a great win in the Gary Anderson sponsored Alex to St Bathan’s Handicap Road Race on Sunday hosted by the Central Otago-Wakatipu Club. Tremendous effort again by one of our juniors on the road.
Road Racing
The Thornbury circuit was the order of the day for Saturday racing during the weekend and a small field still turned out and some tricky drizzly conditions. Read the manager’s report
This Saturday is the Lawn Mowing and Garden Maintenance Specialists two-stage race at Te Tipua. Stage 1 is the Beast of the East with a 10am sign on for 10.30am racing, with stage two on the New Vale Coal circuit with racing at 1.30pm. Make sure you register online now
Plunket Ride
Sid is co-ordinating the club’s involvement in the Pedal for Plunket fundraising event. It’s a fun country-wide cycle relay that staff from The Warehouse, Plunket and other supporters cycle the length of New Zealand in March to raise funds for Plunket.
If you would like to take part, then it leaves from Invercargill Warehouse at 10.30am on Thursday 23rd March headed for the finish at Stirling Point Bluff. Basically, it will be a fun social ride down to Bluff as part of the event, and then a bunch ride home. If you want any more info check out http://pedalforplunket.org.nz/ or have a yarn to Sid.
Bikes in the Tunnel
A big thanks to Sid Cumming, Mike Green, Don and Davi Frew, and the Shearings for their help in creating a new racking system for the club bikes in the tunnel. Check out our Facebook page to see some video of what it looks like. We’ve been working with the stadium for some time to get this sorted – it’s designed to alleviate space pressure in the D. We’ve left the XS, S and some M bikes in the D, but all the L and XL bikes are now in the tunnel. Fantastic works guys!
Vital Signs Tour de Lakes
Don’t forget to get your entries in for the popular Easter tour again this year. Download your entry form
Track Closure
Please note that the track will be closed to all sessions, including Cyclofit, Lunch Roll and Wheelers and Flyers during Friday 17 to Sunday 19 March, due to a marching event being held in the Velodrome.
Track Cleanliness
When snacking and eating inside the “D” in the Velodrome, please ensure you use the rubbish bins provided for wrappers and dropped food items. There has been some unnecessary messes to deal with recently. Thank you.
Missing Time Trial Bars
Some Vision bars that were last seen either in the lock up or track side at the January Carnival are missing. They have a homemade set of bull bars with white bar tape and Vision arm rests. Can you please notify us here at the office if you have knowledge of these or their whereabouts please.
That is enough from me for another week so happy March to you all, take care out there and stay safe on your bikes.
Happy training and racing.